“5300 kilometres, 10 States, 90 days. I am bike packing across America from the West to East starting on May 14th. I am terrible at navigation, have never changed a tyre on a bike and can’t remember how to put up a tent!”
Marion Templeman talks about her epic voyage, how she is raising money for Move against Cancer and how you can follow her progress.
I am doing this with a couple of friends who are splitting the ride with me. One is going to do the first 6 weeks and the other the second. Annette, who is riding the first leg is super organised, brilliant at Navigation and technically superior all round. I have every confidence that I can get from A to B on this stretch without going round in circles and having learnt a few skills along the way. Amy, who is on the second leg is also a good mechanic but like me, less organised and navigationally challenged; this could be ‘interesting’ but she’s Irish too so I expect she won’t care about getting lost. If we make the flight out of the US on the 9th of August it will be a miracle!
I am not too sure why I am doing this. It seemed like a good idea at the time having read a book about someone doing it for 6 months on their own and I thought “why not?”. I can ride a bike ok, I am fairly fit and ‘other people’ always seem to be doing cool things so I thought I would have a go . In the meantime, through Annette, I have been introduced to a great charity that helps younger people with cancer and also focusses on the important of exercise during and after a cancer diagnosis.
Having had breast cancer in 2021 and being a bit of an exercise addict I can really relate to this charity ( apart from the bit about being young) and therefore I am hoping to raise a bit of money for them by doing this trip.
My husband Adam has set up a website which we’ll update with blogs and photos to keep a bit of enthusiasm and motivation going , but also to keep me motivated when at some point I have a meltdown about my grey roots and unshaven legs.
Footnote January 2024: Marion returned to Newbury in August having completed the challenge — and was back at work the next day! She raised over £23000 for her charity. . Read more here.
Marion received the NRC 2024 President's Award in recognition of her journey.
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